It’s just a good thing that the Mets offense is even more inept right now than the Yankees offense at this moment.

Everyday Scottie Proctor and Kyle “Do I play polo? Not really, sir.” Farnsworth were huge in this game. I know that there are not many options for the Yankees these days, out of the pen, sans Rivera. But, I was still repeating “Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is being afraid but doing it anyway.” to myself in my head when they came into the game – thinking this is what Torre should be thinking as he went to these two in such a close game.

Man, if not for the rain delay, this game would have been over around 9:45 local time. Two and a half hour games are nice once in a while.

Lastly, thank you Florida Marlins (for showing the world that the Red Sox can be beaten) tonight.

even if the Yankees come back and win this game, it’s bothersome that they have to struggle against teams like the Braves, Marlins and Nationals.

This weekend against the Mets may be very painful for Yankees fans.

If the Yankees lose today, they will be 4 games back of Boston – and maybe 4 1/2 if the Red Sox win tonight. This time last year – after 76 games – they were 5 1/2 back of Boston. The more things change, the more they……..

I hope the Yankees comeback in this game. But, I don’t expect it. Why should I, given the way they have played this month?

The shame is that they are blowing games where their starting pitching has been OK. Today was another prime example of that. Who would have thought that the Yankees offense would be the weak link this season?

Update: 6/28/05 5:06 PM – Yanks down by one. There’s one out in the bottom of the 12th, Giambi on 1st, A-Rod up……could he???????

Update: 6/28/05 5:08 PM – OK, now, that was clutch!

The turning point of the season?

Really, where was the Yankees offense in this game? Or, the last four games (for that matter)?

Just look at the 8th inning of tonight. Yankees down by two, runner on 2nd, one out, and the batter has a 2-0 count. Who’s the batter? A-Rod. What does he do? He whiffs. It’s almost predictable.

Looking at how Atlanta has played this month, and how bad their starter for this game pitches on the road, the Yankees have to win this game. Throw in 6 good innings from Jaret Wright and it stings even more.

I’m starting to think that the month of May was a fluke (for New York). The Yankees were just about a .500 team in April. And, this month they’re just about a .500 team.

Really, if the Yankees played .500 ball for the next two months, I would not be shocked (at this point). They’re not playing like a playoff contender. That much is obvious.

If they lose tomorrow, then I expect something to happen on Thursday (in terms of a trade). With the Mets coming into the Stadium, George will want something to shake the Yankees cage. It’s an even money bet.

Hey, a win is a win, right? And, the Yankees won tonight – with Randy Johnson looking great in the process. What’s not to like about the results of this game?

Actually, two things tonight concern me.

First, why can’t the Yankees batters play a full nine innings lately? It just seems like, at least to me, again, these days, the Yankees score some runs and then take the rest of the game off.

This evening, thanks to Giambi, New York got five on the board in the first two. Then what happened?

3rd inning: They get the first two batters to reach (with no outs!) and score none.

5th inning: They have a runner on 2nd with one out and cannot get him home.

6th inning: Same thing as the 5th inning.

7th inning: They get a runner to 3rd, albeit with two outs, and he’s left there.

8th inning: The lead-off batter in the inning reaches with the top of the order coming up. And, they cannot move him over and score any runs.

It just seems like the Yankees line-up is not capable of an A-B-C type attack. And, that’s bad. Good teams can do that.

Secondly, and this might just be me, but, I did not see many smiles on Yankees faces during the post-game high-five parade tonight. (In fact, the only player that I noticed cracking a smile was A-Rod.)

What’s up with that? Were they just pissed that Mo had to come into the game and that he was off a bit? Or, is this team not having fun – even when they win?

I’m just starting to get the feeling that, maybe, this Yankees team is lacking the proper attitude that seems to go with a winner. Maybe they had it in the Spring and all the injures have sucked the life out of them? Or, maybe they never had it at all?

I don’t know the answer. And, this all may be the wrong take (on my part). But, something just seems missing. I hope that I’m mistaken on this read. Because, if I am right, it’s going to be a long summer in the Bronx.

And, now, with Cano’s hammy, it could be more of a struggle to score runs – if Robinson is out as long as it took Bubba Crosby to heal his hamstring.

Thank goodness for Mussina’s effort in the first game today.

The Yankees are now 11-11 for the month of June – with 4 games to go this month. That’s bad news. This was supposed to be an easy month for New York.

The Yankees schedule in July and August is tough. We may just be looking at a killer June swoon here. The Yankees better play better against the Braves now – with the Mets coming after that.

PS – Happy 63rd Wedding Anniversary to Scooter and Cora. I thought I once heard Phil say, during a broadcast (from Seattle?) that he would never book a round hotel room because then he would never be able to corner Cora.

Hopefully, there’s an octagon-shaped room somewhere up at Penny’s house. I have no idea how old Cora is now – but, Scooter is eighty-eight. They deserve to have some fun tonight.

Holy Cow!

So, it’s not an understatement to say I’m surprised – but happy – that Wright posted goose eggs tonight (albeit in his customary five spot). With an off-day tomorrow, it’s not so bad that he didn’t pitch the 6th today. (And, I buy into what they said on YES – that it may have been all those LHB coming up, in what was then a 1-0 game, that was the driver to go with Villone.)

In closing tonight, I would like to personally “thank” the Washington Nationals for rolling over to the Red Sox (for three straight) like a patient at the proctologist after playing the Yankees like it was the 7th game of the World Series for three days in a row. Everybody wants to beat the Yankees but nobody ever shows up against the Red Sox. Let’s just say that I’ll be rooting against the Nationals now, when given the chance, whereas before they were never on my radar. They’ve made my “list” after this past week.

Whew!

Maybe all that fisting that Jeter did with that kid in the stands tonight has brought on some good luck?

Before I forget – is Bernie Williams really batting .294 now? Yes, this is true. But, it’s a strange thing – because his OBA, now, is only around .334 (by my rough count). So, he’s not really like the Bernie Williams of old – he’s more like the Robinson Cano of now. But, given the Yankees’ choices for outfielders these days – Kevin Reese anyone? – Bernie’s helping the team as best he can (at this stage of his career).

It was sort of scary seeing Mo Rivera swing a bat for the first time since Game 4 of the 2000 World Series. Why was he swinging from the heels? Torre should have ordered him to stand there for three pitches and not risk any injury. Just imagine if Mariano ended up on the D.L. this year because he hurt his shoulder swinging the bat in an inter-league game?

Lastly, yes, A-Rod, Melky, Damon…..fill in the blanks. But, more importantly, Arthur Lee Rhodes Jr., well, thank you for being you. It’s nice to know there are still some things that you can count on almost every time.

The way it worked was – you would stare at a point in the picture, and then relax your eyes, and then you would see these “magical” things inside the picture – like rivers of color, or a funky space alien, or something silly like that.

It never worked for me. All my friends would carry on about all the “cool” stuff that they could see – like it was an acid trip. Me? I would stare, and stare, and stare – and I’d get nothing.

Basically, looking at these things was a total waste of my time – and the more I did it, the more annoyed I would become (since I knew there was “something” good in there, according to others, but all I could see was a blur of seemingly nothingness).

For roughly two decades, since the height of the “Magic Eye” craze, I do not recall having this experience – of watching something, staring at it with great intent, thinking it was going to be good, and it essentially becoming a mind numbing waste of time.

But, I swear, watching this game tonight, it all came back to me. The more that I stared at this game, the more I saw nothing. The whole thing is just one big blur. And, it’s not pretty – at least not to me.

It’s a cozy park, with quiet fans – at least they were today, and the staff is very polite. We had a fun time at the ballpark today – unlike the Yankees.

When the Yankees play the Washington Nationals, they’re supposed to win either two or three out of three games. They’re not supposed to win one game and then blow the other two for losses.

When we got to the car today, and I heard the score of the Yankees final, and then how it happened, all I could think about was what Joe Torre said after yesterday’s game:

[It's] “As bad as you can get…”

Guess what Joe – it just got worse. This is a devastating loss.

The Yankees have now lost 7 of their last 10 games. And, one of those wins was by the score of 1-0. So, we could be looking at 8 of 10 right now. New York is lucky that Boston and/or Toronto has not taken advantage of this slump.

The way the Yankees are playing right now, it seems like this team needs a shot of adrenaline, or something. How that happens, I don’t know? In the absence of adrenaline, maybe a slap in the face will do?

It just seems like, if they do nothing, then nothing will happen.